


This is not living

by nerdbeyondlimits



Series: The tale of Keith and Lance [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Blade of Marmora Keith (Voltron), Blood, Fainting, Gun Violence, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) Angst, Knowledge or Death, Lance to the rescue, Major Character Injury, Sort Of, That's all I think, and makes everything right, but luckily keith has one to take care of him, eventual Klance, he's not having a good time you guys, his knight in shining armour, lance comes along, this is like the build-up, yeah - Freeform, yeah those blades aren't too good when it comes to family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-25 16:02:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14980613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdbeyondlimits/pseuds/nerdbeyondlimits
Summary: After some time with the blades, Keith is not doing too good. After a particularly bad mission Lance shows up by coincidence and does some well needed rescuing





	This is not living

**Author's Note:**

> So this is before season 6 because I couldn't be bothered in changing my timeline. So Keith's still with the blades, yadda yadda. And Shiro is not a clone, because that would just be difficult to wor into teh story and here we just ignore the things that is too much of a bother:)  
> Anyway, enjoy this angsty first part of my new and first series about klance:)

One foot in front of the other. Breath in. One foot in front of the other. Look over your shoulder. One foot in front of the other. Breath out. Repeat.

Keith was running through a galra base, making his way through maze-like corridors and dodging sentries like some sick video game. Kolivan was waiting at the pick-up point not far from here, but if he didn't watch the time they would leave without him. The three of them had split up, each retrieving one part of the valuable information.

Idealistically, the blade wanted all three of the units, but Keith knew that they wouldn't risk the hostile galra discovering their craft at the base over getting the information. Kolivan had reported that he was in position and ready to leave.

They hadn't yet heard from Ilun, but Keith supposed that could be him having returned to the craft and not bothering to alert Keith, as long as their team-leader knew. He could feel the pressure building up on his shoulders at the thought of being left behind on the station. How long could he go without being ratted out to the galra? A couple of hours? A day?

He turned a corner, and was startled by the vision of two sentries standing guard with their backs to him. He scrambled back behind the wall again, breathing heavily. A day – yeah right. He could barely make his way over one floor without running head first into his enemies. '

“Keith”, Kolivan's voice crackled in his ear. “Report your status.”

“I've got the intel. Need to get past some sentries. I can be at the pick-up point in five dobashes.”

“Five dobashes. Then we have to leave.” Keith could sense the untold ending. _Whether you are with us or not._

“Understood.” The comms clicked, and the voice was replaced by the rushing of blood in his ears and the pulse in his throat.

Preferably, he had to get past the guards without them noticing. Otherwise they would call for backup and Keith's way to the craft might be compromised. But just to be safe, he loosened his blade from its strap where it hung by his hip.

With the weapon readied in his hand, he crept out from his safe spot. The sentries hadn't moved. Both of them wielded a wicked-looking spear each, and one of them had a blaster strapped to its thigh. They wouldn't be easy to defeat if it came down to combat.

Yet another reason to escape the situation unnoticed.

If Lance could see him now, he would laugh and say that he had turned full space-ninja. Dressed in the smooth armour of the blades, he was silently making his way across the passageway. In order to get to Kolivan, he would have to go past the galrans, and into the corridor on the left.

Now, he could sneak into it and hope that he wouldn't be spotted through their peripheral vision. But that seemed to leave an awful lot to sheer luck.

His other option was to create a distraction of sorts. Removing his ear-piece from inside the hood, he edged his way along the wall that was left to the left from the sentries turned backs. He was now closer to the corridor he needed to get to. There was a small alcove in the wall, into which he backed.

The blades had two types of communicators; the receiver earpiece, which could also transmit messages. But there was also the space variation of a walkie-talkie. This was the one he was removing from his belt.

Turning the volume up to max on the earpiece, he bent to his knees and skidded it across the floor, to the end of the corridor that the sentries weren't guarding. Praying that he would go unnoticed in the alcove, he whispered into the walkie talkie.

“This way, come on. There is no one here. We just need to plant the bombs and then leave.”

One of the sentries whipped around.

“Who's there?! Show yourself!”

“What's going on?” The other one asked.

“I heard someone...”

They still weren't moving, so Keith decided to bet it all on one card, and raised the walkie talkie to his mouth again.

“Crap! They know we are here!”

He ducked farther into the alcove as the two sentries rushed past him and down the corridor.

The second they passed him, he bolted. He could only pray that there wouldn't be any more sentries on the way to the craft.

Just as he skidded around the corner and out of sight, one of the sentries shouted.

“Hold on! There was someone down there!” _Shit._

He carried on running, not bothering to try and find a new hiding place. It was all or nothing now. The clanky footfalls of the sentries armoured boots grew stronger, and as of in a daze he heard a blaster load from behind.

“Intruders!” A voice bellowed, and alarms drowned the sound of his ragged heartbeat. _Fuck._

A purple beam zoomed past him, and his breath caught in his throat. He was an open target, a white rabbit running from a wolf.

Turning around yet another corner, he spotted Kolivan in the opening of their escape vessel in the far end of the corridor. His legs pumped faster, acid burning through his muscles. His hood had fallen off, black hair whipping behind him.

More shots from the blasters flew through the air. One zinged the tip of his ear, drawing a thin line of blood there. Keith ran even faster.

His vision was tunnelling, focusing only on the ship before him. He felt like his feet was barely touching the floor anymore, merely skimming it with his toes occasionally. More shouts. Another alarm going off.

And then something plunged itself deep into his calf. His feet came down hard on the ground again, making him stumble a couple of steps. Heat was searing up his leg, but it apparently wasn't enough to cauterise the wound, because Keith could feel blood pulsing out from beneath the suit.

But he couldn't afford to lose speed now. The doors to the craft were already closing. Kolivan couldn't risk getting him on the ship only for them not being bale to take off due to a blasted engine, for example.

If he was getting in that vessel, it damn well was without the help off his team mates.

Drawing from some unknown energy, high on adrenaline and fear, he plunged himself forward. His fingers gripped the edges of the metal craft, and then there were clawed hands on his own, drawing him in.

He collapsed on the floor, doors snapping close behind him. He was dimly aware of the familiar turmoil that came with taking off, but most of him was busy drawing his mouthfuls of oxygen and focusing on not passing out. His adrenaline was still pumping through his veins, making everything fuzzy and hyper-sharp at the same time, when he couldn't project it on an action.

Hands were on his shoulders, pulling him to sit on one of the chairs.

“You did good, young one. Make sure to get that wound patched up.”

Kolivan returned to the piloting seat, where Ilun was standing by the helm, steering the ship.

Keith slumped back in his seat, allowing himself to close his eyes. Fuzzy lights were still exploding behind his eyelids, remembering the blasts from the galras' weapons. He ignored the searing pain in his leg and drifted off into thoughts.

 

* * *

 

Two vargas later, he was sitting on the middle of his bunk, with gauze, scissors and tape laid out in front of him.

His injured leg was stretched out in front of him, spilling blood into a towel. The flow had slowed, thank god, replaced by a lazy trickle of crimson. Still hurt like hell, though. He was just about to start wrapping it with the gauze, bending over awkwardly when the communicator by his bedpost crackled to life.

“Keith. The blue paladin is here to see you.” It was Kolivan.

“Now? _Right_ now?” he asked incredulously.

“He is standing by me on the bridge. He said he was just 'passing by', and wanted to pay a visit to his 'favourite emo'.”

Even though it was quite funny to listen to Kolivan pronouncing the foreign words, he did not want this conversation to continue any further. Lance was here, right now, and Keith did not want to let that situation go unhandled for much longer.

“Tell him I'll be there in five doboshes.”

His leg just had to wait. He had changed into a pair of black pants, and as he pulled them down over his leg he was thankful for the dark fabric concealing the blood.

Throwing a blanket over the items on his bed and shuffling them to a far end of the sheet, he got up and exited his small quarters. Pain was shooting up his leg in sharp spikes every time he set down his foot, but he would be damned if Lance saw him hopping along on one leg to meet him.

He paused briefly outside the doors leading to the bridge, composing himself with a few deep breaths.

The second he pushed the doors open, Lance bounced toward him.

“Keith! I was on my way back from a single mission – nothing major – when I thought, hey, I am close to the blades head quarter. I wonder how Keith's doing. And so I checked in with Allura, and she thought it was a great idea to drop in and say hi. Shiro complains that you don't call enough. He worries that you're dead on a mission or something.”

Lance chuckled, and Keith felt a bit ashen as he though of today's mission. He glanced over at Kolivan, but the blade didn't seem to pay any attention to their conversation. Thank fuck.

“Hey, do you have your own room here? Is it bigger than the ones at the castle?”

“Uh, Kolivan, I'm just gonna show Lance my quarters. Is that all right?”

“Of course, Keith. We don't have another mission scheduled for some time. Take a break from training awhile. You've deserved it.”

Keith thought Kolivan glanced down briefly at his calf, but yet again he let it go unsaid. Keith quickly turned around and dragged Lance with him.

Lance talked merrily about what happened at the castle, what missions they had been on and how things with the coalition were going, allowing Keith not to bother about anything apart from muttering occasional agreements from time to time.

That, until he suddenly stopped moving, mouth snapping shut.

“You're limping”, he stated.

“Am not”, Keith said back as he tried to even out his stance, putting weight on his wounded leg. The pressure caused black spots to appear in his vision, but he blinked them away. Lance looked sceptically at him.

“You are paler than usually, too.”

“You're seeing things. Maybe you are the one that needs checking up.” Lance didn't look convinced, but didn't push it.

He was quieter the rest of the way, and Keith caught him eyeing his leg suspiciously more times than one.

By the time they got to his room, he was exhausted from both the pain and trying to cover everything up in front of Lance. He didn't know exactly _why_ he was so resentful to telling Lance about his injury. Maybe it was because the blue paladin would fret himself crazy over him. Alternatively, mocking himself for getting injured, but that seemed less likely.

But in all honesty, Keith was afraid that Lance would think he was a liar.

A liar for saying everything was fine here at the blades.

A liar for denying every one of their concerns about him.

A liar for dismissing their calls with excuses of missions or training when in reality he couldn't put up with the homesickness he felt looking at them, the castle's bridge in the background.

He gracelessly flopped down on his bed, vision going temporary black at the sudden vertigo. Damn, he really should have seen to that blood loss before seeing Lance. But there was nothing to be done about it now.

Lance sat down next to him on the bed, dipping the mattress with his weight. Keith was hyper-aware of the bundle of medical supplies at the foot of his bed.He supposed he could dismiss them as some sort of emergency kit of Lance would discover them, but he doubted that the blue paladin was that gullible.

Hunk, maybe. But not Lance.

He forced his eyes open as Lance started asking questions about the items in his room.

He had gotten up again, and was walking around looking at the stuff on the small shelves.

When Keith left from the castle, it hit him how empty his room there had been. No on could ever have guesses that there had been another paladin. That caused a sting in his abdomen.

So ever since he'd gotten to the blades, he had started filling the metal shelves with small memorials.

Coloured stones from different planets, a feather from the nest of a foreign, dragon-like creature. White-pinkish shells from a water planet (Keith had secretly thought that Lance would've loved that one) and a music box that played an alien tune from an intergalactic pawn shop. That one was the jewel of his collection.

Lance picked it up now, inspecting it from different angles.

“How does it work?” he asked. Keith pushed himself up from the bed, braced himself for the few steps that were required to take him across the room. He managed them, but he couldn't look good, because Lance was reaching out an arm, bracing him by the shoulder.

“Hey man, are you okay? You are _really_ pale, no mocking intended.”

“I...” Keith began, but found himself overcome by a case of vertigo.

His vision of Lance began to slip. Too late he realised that he was actually falling away from him, knees buckling under his weight. By then there was no going back. The last thing he was aware of was Lance plunging forward to catch him before he hit the floor. Then consciousness left him in a blissful swoop.

 

*

 

When Lance came to visit Keith, this was _not_ what he had expected. Sure, he had suspected for some time that everything wasn't exactly... peachy, with Keith. They all had.

He barely returned their calls, and when he did, he looked tired and on the brink of malnourished. He didn't say a word of his missions with the blades, and excused himself the second he got a chance to.

That was part of the reason as to why Lance had wanted to visit Keith, and Allura had thought it such a good idea.

But he never could have realised that he would be hoisting Keith onto his bed after the latter had _literally_ collapsed in front of him.

Lance barely had a moment to understand what was happening before Keith's eyes were rolling up in his head and he was falling backwards. He was only just able to catch him under the arms before the he dived head-first into the hard, cold floor.

He was muttering insanely to himself as he got Keith onto the bed, frantically trying to find out what was wrong with the other teen.

“Okay, Lance, don't freak out, that's all you need to focus on. Just, don't freak out and the rest will come along naturally. What are you supposed to do when someone's passed out? Heimlich manoeuvre? But that is only if the person isn't breathing, right? Oh god, he is breathing, isn't he?”

Not really aware that he was saying all of this out loud, he didn't realise he had woken Keith up with his rambling. Not until the latter placed a hand on his arm, causing him to jump at least five inches into the air.

“Calm... down, Lnnc...” Lance sucked in a deep breath.

“Oh thank god you're alive. And what the hell was that? What is wrong? Why did you pass out?”

“Please, sllow the ffuck dwn”, Keith slurred.

“All right, of course, of course. Where are you hurt?”

“M'calf. Bleeding. There's medical spplies down therr...” He flopped a lifeless hand toward the end of the bed.

Lance retrieved the items, and set them down beside Keith.

He was now blinking hard, and the blue paladin was relieved to see that some of the awareness had returned to his eyes.

With combines efforts, they managed to get Keith into a sitting position with his back leaning against the headboard of the bed. He was still a bit woozy from the pain and blood loss, but not as bad off as Lance had first had feared.

As he was cutting Keith's sweatpants away from his shin, revealing the glistening wound there, he asked Keith about it.

“How did you end up like this, anyway? I though the blade had medics?

“I had barely gotten back from the mission when you showed up. I was going to treat it myself before it got this bad...”

“Then why didn't you tell me? It sure would have been a lot easier than collapsing on me.” Keith only shrugged and avoided his eyes. But Lance wasn't done yet.

“So, hold on. You meant that you were going to fix this up yourself? What if you had passed out while doing it? What if I hadn't been with you when you did? You could have bled out, in worst case.”

“I _was_ going to treat it before I passed out, I told you.”

“And what about Kolivan?” Lance ranted on as he rolled out a piece of gauze long enough to wrap around the wound. “Didn't he know you were injured?”

Keith nodded.

“And he was going to let you treat it by yourself?”

“Lance, relax. They know I would have come to them if it was serious enough.”

“An injury shouldn't have to be 'serious enough' to require help. No one should have to go through pain alone.” Lance muttered grudgingly. And winced.

“Was it a galra blaster that did this?” he asked and gestured towards Keith's shin. He nodded.

“Yeah.” His eyes had slipped closed to shut out the pain as Lance had been tending to his wounds, and he was reliving the moment he got shot with a shudder.

“How did it happen?” he asked quietly.

And Keith, despite not really wanting to, told him the story of the mission, from the moment he'd stepped on to the galra station to those last tense seconds when he was only inches away from the door, not knowing of he would make it or not.

Lance face was a mask of absolute horror by the time he'd finished. Keith tried to calm him down.

“Look, Lance, it's not a big deal. I'll talk to Kolivan, but please don't mention it to Shiro, he'll...”

“Oh, if you think you are talking to Kolivan about anything, you are greatly mistaken!”

Lance was furious, blood boiling, fists clenched.

“I'm taking you home, and if you think you have a choice you have committed a serious mistake. Do not believe for a second that I will let you stay here with these cold-blooded soldiers. We're going home.”

As Keith looked at Lance, he reminded him weirdly of Shiro back at Garrison, after those few (well not exactly _few_ ) times Keith had gotten into fights. Sixteen-year-old Keith had gotten as far as to the main entrance, knuckles split and wrist held tightly against his chest, most likely broken, before Shiro had caught up with him.

He had dragged the younger boy to his apartment, not putting up enough room for objections. It had just been “I'll take care of you, no matter what you want”.

Lance was saying the same thing now. And even though part of him liked it with the blade, felt some sort of connection to the strange, hooded group, most of him felt a soft happiness at the thought of going home.

That happiness kept him enveloped as Lance was making calls to the castle, prompting Allura to contact Kolivan to ask if _THIS WAS TRUE?_ and before long Lance was helping him to pack the things he'd collected and put in his room, along with some clothes and other necessities.

Both Keith and Lance knew that he wasn't coming back to this place anytime soon, and packed accordingly.

He was saying a quick goodbye to Kolivan, partly embarrassed about the whole thing, but not quite being able to apologise about it either. Lance dragged him away to the blue lion before he could talk himself into it.

And the whole time he felt that soft blanket of happiness float around him and encase him in its warmness.

Blue had seemingly conjured up another piloting chair next to Lance's, and as he curled up in it with an actual blanket around his shoulders, Shiro was contacting them over the comms.

Lance pulled him up on the screen and gave Keith a grim smile before answering the calls.

“Sorry”, he mimed.

Shiro's call consisted mostly of berating Keith over not telling him about the blades' course of actions, mixed up with convincing himself that Keith was _actually_ okay.

“Don't you think he looks too pale?” Lance reached out a hand and placed it on his forehead, making him grumble in protest. But he was too tired to pull away and finally accepted his fate.

“Yeah, he's got a bit of a fever from the blood loss. Nothing serious, though.”

“I'm literally right here”, he muttered at one point, to which Shiro answered; We know. But you can't be trusted with assessing yourself”, making Keith sink even further down in his chair, burying himself from sight and brooding quietly.

But he wasn't really annoyed, and before long he was drifting off to sleep, comforted by the soft blanket wrapped around him and the fading voices of Lance and Shiro talking.

 

* * *

 

 Keith was still sleeping as Lance docked the lion in the castle's hangar. Not wanting to wake him, when he was looking so clearly sleep-deprived, Lance picked him up in his bundle of blankets, carrying him down the ramp of his lion.

Shiro and the rest of them waited for them in the lounging room. Since they'd first arrived to the castle, they had fixed it up with couches, fuzzy rugs, the altean equivalent of a TV and heaps of pillows to make it more of a place to unwind and hang out.

Shiro helped Lance to set Keith down on one of the couches, replacing his the blue lion's blanket with a soft, heavy one that would keep him warmer.

Coran and Shiro agreed that they could let the pod wait in favour of letting Keith sleep, as it would take him to be awake to get him into one of the cryo-suits.

So Shiro settled down by Keith's head on the couch, as the rest of the team scattered over the rest of the lounge.

Pidge and Coran had since long figured out how to connect Pidge's laptop to the altean screen, and they slowly had been picking their way through Pidge's greatly respected movie collection. A united vote decided on Back to the Future, and as Lance curled up into a soft armchair, hands wrapped around a cup of Hunk's specialised alien-hot chocolate, he glanced over to Keith.

He was still sleeping, looking more peaceful than Lance could ever remember seeing him be. Shiro had placed his injured leg on a soft pillow and was carding his fingers through his little brother's dark hair.

Lance met Shiro's eyes and smiled softly. Their leader smiled back, and somehow Lance knew that Keith would be okay now.

There might be a bumps in the road here and there, but he was home now.

He was with family. Nothing could beat that.

 

**Author's Note:**

> So, as i said, this is only the first part of a series that will focus on Keith and Lance as they begin forming something more than a friendship (I'm well aware that S6 ruined all those expectations, shut up and let me dream)  
> But, uh, thanks for reading and leave a kudos or a comment, that's literally what lights up my day. I swear, i never check my email as frequently as when i've posted a new story to see if any of you have said something:)


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